UC Riverside

Significant losses of managed honey bees (Apis mellifera) have been documented in recent years, driven by multiple stressors including parasites, pesticide exposure, and environmental change. To mitigate escalating hive losses, some beekeepers in Southern California collect and propagate locally occurring, free-living colonies, often referred to as "survivor" or "Californian" honey bees, that persist with limited human intervention. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of beekeepers managing colonies in Southern California to compare management practices and reported outcomes across stock types. Beekeepers clustered into 3 groups: those managing only commercial colonies (35.3%), only Californian colonies (29.4%), or a mixture of both (35.3%). Respondents indicated that management practices had been adapted when keeping Californian honey bees and reported reduced expenditures associated with queen replacement and disease management. These bees were widely perceived to possess beneficial traits, including greater colony persistence and potential climate resilience. However, quantitative analyses did not detect significant differences in reported parasite prevalence among stock types, highlighting the importance of distinguishing perception from measured outcomes. Additional studies are needed to evaluate characteristics such as defensiveness, productivity, and seasonal survival using standardized approaches. Overall, our findings suggest that Californian stock may represents a viable and potentially cost-effective component of sustainable apiculture. Further research is required to clarify the ecological, genetic, and physiological mechanisms underlying beneficial key life-history traits, which may involve tolerance, resistance, or their interaction. Such knowledge would provide a foundation for future breeding efforts aimed at developing honey bee populations that are robust to multiple ecological stressors.